Hands Held High
by Scoobert0
Summary: Castiel Novak is a renowned hunter and devout Christian. One night, after a hunt gone south, he is saved by an angel. Who is he and what does Heaven have planned for them? But the biggest question might be: Why does this angel have the mouth of a sailor?
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I know, I know; I should be working on the next installment of the Angelic Familiar Series. But I can't bring myself to write continuous fluff yet after the finale. So here's this instead. It has the potential to have fluffy parts and dark parts, which is kinda the messed up state my brain is currently in so it works out wonderfully. I'm going to shut-up now and you're going to read, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, otherwise there would be hugs and cake and happy endings for everyone!**

**Warning: Un-beta'd as per usual. I realize I suck at typing, so there tend to be a few spelling errors. Sorry about that.**

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><p>Castiel Novak was a devout Christian, he believed in God, Heaven and Angels. But he was also a hunter, so he knew that demons and other dark things existed in the world. These two facts also explained his current predicament.<p>

He was surrounded by five demons in front of an old church in which he had hoped to take sanctuary in before they caught up to him. Which obviously hadn't happened. Knife in one hand and gun in the other, he constantly shifted his position, trying to keep as many of the demons in sight as possible. Blinking away blood and sweat from his eyes, Castiel ground his teeth together as he tried to force himself to stay alert. The demons continued to toy with the injured hunter, laughing as his strength started to waver.

"So close, yet oh so far away. Poor little hunter." A female demon teased, moving closer.

Raising his gun and aiming it at her head, Castiel snarled at her, "Stay back!"

"Or what? You're going to shoot me? Sorry, but you've given yourself a bit of a reputation for not hurting the meatsuits we choose. So why don't you put the weapons down and just come along quietly."

"I'd rather die." He ground out, taking a couple stumbled steps towards the church.

"Oh, you have no idea how much I'd love to fulfill that request, but our orders are to bring you in alive." The demon told him in a sickly sweet voice as she signaled the others. With his reflexes hampered by his injuries, Castiel didn't even have a chance to put up a fight. Two demons came up from behind him, grabbing his arms and forcing him to his knees. He grunted at the jolt of pain the motion sent through his body.

"Why do you want me alive?" He asked through clenched teeth, tugging at his arms weakly.

"Well let's think about this, hunter. You've managed to piss off quite a few of the big boys downstairs over the years. Why do you think they want you? Revenge is such a sweet thing you know." She cooed, running her fingers down the side of his face before pulling back and backhanding him. Spitting out blood, Castiel glared up at her briefly before smiling and closing his eyes.

"_Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas,_"

"Shut him the fuck up!" The female demon screeched, her hands flying up to cover her ears. The demons holding him let go suddenly, causing him to fall forward onto his hands as he continued reciting the exorcism.

"_Omnis incursio infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica, in nom_-"

He was cut off as a boot connected with his stomach. His vision blurred out of focus as he collapsed onto the ground and curled himself into a ball. The demon continued to kick him while he was down and managed to connect one to his head finally. His body instantly went limp. Before his eyes closed, he saw a bright light fill the area and heard the demons scream in agony. As his consciousness started fading, he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder before blacking out.

IT'SAPAGEBREAK,DUNDUNDUN!

When he woke, Castiel was confused. Keeping his eyes closed, he mentally reviewed his body and recent events. He remembered everything that had happened and knew he should be in pain because of it, but he wasn't. He was actually feeling better than he had in months.

Opening his eyes and sitting up slowly, he inspected his surroundings. Candles light illuminated what had to be the inside of the church he'd been trying to escape to from the demons. Hunter instincts kicking in, he unsheathed his remaining wrist blade and stood. Looking around he noticed a man sprawled out on the altar, one of his legs dangling over the side and swinging back and forth. Castiel approached him slowly, not knowing who it was or what he was doing there. As he came closer, he could hear the other man humming something that sounded vaguely like Metallica. Clearing his throat loudly, he let the other man know he was there. The humming stopped.

"Yeah, yeah. I knew you were there already, coulda just said 'Hi' or something. Oh, and you can put the knife away, I'm not here to hurt you. I mean seriously, I could have just left you to the demons if that were the case." The man said in a deep voice as he sat up with both legs hanging over the edge of the altar. His dirty blond hair was cropped short and his eyes were a stunning green, which were shining with amusement.

"You know about demons?" Castiel asked cautiously.

"Duh." Came the eloquent answer.

"Are you a Hunter?"

"Nope."

"Then why did you save me?"

"I had orders to."

"Orders? From who?"

"Upstairs." The blond said matter-of-factly, pointing towards the ceiling.

"Upstairs… As in Heaven?" The question left Castiel as a whisper.

"Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner! I'm here to guide you and help you and blah, blah, blah other stuff."

"So y-you, you're an…" Castiel stuttered slightly as he stared open mouthed at the man before him. With a wide grin on his face, the other man stood up on the altar and spread his arms out to his sides. Lightning flashed as the silhouettes of two large wings spread across the wall behind him.

"My name is Deaniel and I am a mother fucking, certified badass Angel of the Lord. Feel free to grovel, it's ok."

Castiel fell to his knees, eyes wide in shock. He had been saved by an angel! An unorthodox one, but an angel none the less. He clasped his hands together, bowed his head and began to pray, thanking God and Deaniel profusely.

"Dude, I'm right here! You don't have to pray to me." Deaniel said in an annoyed tone as he jumped down from the altar. Castiel blushed slightly and bowed his head lower.

"My apologizes."

"Eh, it's fine. And it's just Dean, by the way."

"Huh?" Castiel asked, tilting his head to the side in confusion.

"Don't call me by my true name, it sounds too girly. And since I'm going to be hanging with you on Earth here it's better that I use a more normal name that Deaniel. So it's just Dean." The angel explained.

"I see. I'll make sure to remember that." The hunter promised as he got up off the ground, "So angels do look just like humans." He observed.

"What? Oh, no. This is just a vessel. My true form could melt your face off or kill you if you actually saw it." Dean said nonchalantly. Castiel was taken aback, the angel was possessing someone?

"So you're possessing some innocent person who probably had a family and are worried sick about him?" He asked angrily, hands clenching into fists. Dean cocked an eyebrow at the outburst and rolled his eyes.

"Before you even continue on that tirade, I'll fill you in on how this works. Angels have to ask permission to use someone as a vessel. So obviously, this guy said yes when I asked him if I could use his body. So just shut-up and deal with it. Cause whether you like it or not, your sorry ass is stuck with me until my orders say otherwise, God damn it!" Dean told him irritably. Castiel was staring at him wide eyes and open mouthed again, "What?"

"You're an angel, you shouldn't be able to take the Lord's name in vain. Or swear even."

"Fuck that noise. News flash buddy, angels aren't anything like you think we are. We're soldiers: We don't wear diapers, we don't all play the harp and sing God's praises all day, and haloes aren't a sign of holiness, they're weapons! So sorry to crush all your little ideals of us and what not, but that's how it is." He said darkly, his face hard and angry.

Stunned into silence, Castiel couldn't even formulate a response. Dean's face softened and he looked away.

"Sorry, I have a bit of a temper." He apologized gruffly, running a hand through his hair and kicking at something on the floor.

"Oh, no. The fault is mine. I should have realized, sorry." Castiel said hurriedly, crossing himself and praying for forgiveness.

"Realized what? That humanity's overactive imagination has created an image of angels that's the complete opposite of what we really are? Nah, It's not your fault. And _please_ stop with all the praying and crossing and eye averting stuff, it's going to get old fast." Dean said as he walked up to Castiel.

"What do you mean?"The hunter asked.

"Consider me your guardian angel for the time being. You've got some important work coming your way and it's my job to make sure you fulfill your destiny." The angel wrapped an arm around his shoulders and started walking them towards the door of the church, "Now, I'm totally excited to try this whole eating thing, so what do you say we go find some food, huh?"

"Uh," Castiel began, but his stomach chose that moment to let the world know it had been awhile since his last meal, "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea actually."

"Awesome!"

They walked down the aisle and out the door. Castiel paused at the top of the stairs, looking around for the demons.

"Don't worry, I took care of them already." The angel said, and as if reading his mind when Castiel frowned added, "The demons are dead and the people they possessed are already back at their homes, safe and sound."

"Thank you."

"No problem. But I do know of an actual problem. Where do we find food?" Dean's face was scrunched up in uncertainty. Castiel's lips twirked up in a small, amused smile. Dean may talk like an average American, but he was still an angel and had no idea how people did things.

"Come on, my car is just a couple blocks away. I'll drive us to an Arby's or something for some food." The hunter said as he descended the stairs. He got to the bottom and looked back to see if Dean had followed him. The angel was nowhere to be seen.

"Whatcha lookin' for?" A voice said from behind him. Spinning around, he came face-to-face with Dean's smug smirk, "Angel, remember? So a car you say? I've always been interested in those, they seem cool enough. Though nothing is as fast as teleporting. I could just teleport us some place and when we're done I can bring us back for your car."

"Uh, as great as that sounds Dean, you can't just go teleporting to into the middle of public places." Castiel explained, stepping around the angel and walking down the sidewalk towards where his car was.

"Why not?"

"Because not everyone can teleport. If you know about cars and whatnot, shouldn't you know that?" A combination of annoyance and sarcasm laced Castiel's voice as he spoke.

"Hey now, gimme a break. This is my first time on Earth and I'm kinda excited. Can't blame me for some things slipping my mind now can you?" Dean replied as he suddenly appeared next to him. Castiel involuntarily jumped a little when he materialized out of thin air.

"So, it's Cas, right?" The angel continued talking.

"It's Castiel."

"Like my brother, the angel of Thursday. Whoopdie-freaking-doo."

"Yes, I was named after him." Castiel answered, mildly embarrassed for some reason.

"So to differentiate, I'm going to call you Cas." Dean told him plainly.

"I prefer to be called by my full name, if you don't mind."

"Sure thing Cassie." Castiel stopped walking and stared at the angel who kept going, a smug grin on his face as he passed him, "Come on dude! Where's your car, I want to eat already!"

The hunter stared after the angel for a moment before jogging to catch up to him. He could tell already this was going to be like babysitting a giant toddler. Oh joy.

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><p><strong>AN: Good? Bad? What the hell is going on? Let me know what you think, feedback is always appreciated!<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Heyo, here we go again! I apparently have a "thing" for writing long chapters/ stories this week. Not that any of you probably mind. I know I like it when I get a long chapter in my inbox. Anywho, here's chapter 2. And just so everyone knows, I haven't decided yet if this is going to be slash or not. I'm still trying to figure out where the plot is actually going, cause it's been mentioned but has yet to actually make an appearance.  
>Now, I was told there would be cookies Michelle, I'm waiting… Just kidding! ;{P That would be a smiley face with a mustache. You know you like it. I'll leave you to read now, enjoy!<strong>

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><p>The hunter and angel continued walking down the street. Dean's enthusiasm was beginning to wear on Castiel. The angel asking if every car they pass was his was getting old fast. Finally they rounded a corner and he pointed to a vehicle that was parked in the shadows.<p>

"_That_ is my car." He informed Dean irritably, getting the keys out of his pocket.

"What the hell is that, Cas?" Dean asked in disgust.

"My car, I just said that."

"That's not a car, that's a lunch box!"

Castiel rolled his eyes and unlocked the car doors, "It's a Toyota Prius Hybrid. It gets great gas mileage and has plenty of storage. Works good for the job, only reason I have it, alright?" He defended.

Dean just snorted and walked up to the passenger door. After staring at it for a moment, he looked over to Castiel.

"You can't tell me you don't know how to open a car door." He groaned, covering his face with his hand before dragging it downwards.

"Of course I do! I'm just afraid I'm going to break it if I touch it." Dean smiled mischievously before disappearing and reappearing in the passenger seat. Lips thinning out, Castiel closed his eyes and counted to ten. This angel was worse than his big brother. Groaning again, he smacked himself in the face. If Dean really was going to follow him everywhere, he was going to have to take him with to meet up with his brother tomorrow.

Sighing heavily, he opened his door and slid into the driver's seat. Closing the door, he reached up and grabbed the seatbelt and buckled in. Glancing over at Dean, he saw him staring at him curiously.

"You should put your seatbelt on." Castiel absently told him, hanging the keys off the rearview mirror and pushing the ignition button.

"I'm fine. I'll trust that you're a safe driver Cas. Even if you aren't and we get into an accident, I'll be fine."

"I'm not telling you to because of risk of injury, I'm telling you cause I don't want to get pulled over by a cop and get a ticket." He said plainly, turning to look at the angel. Huffing loudly, Dean grabbed the shoulder belt and buckled it across his lap.

"Happy?"

"Ecstatic." Castiel returned, shaking his head and putting the car into drive before pulling onto the road.

The car was amazingly quiet for a few minutes as he steered them towards a main road. Throwing a glance over at Dean, he saw that the angel had his hands and face planted on the window as he watched the scenery roll by. A huge smile of wonder was on his face, reaffirming Castiel's initial comparison of him to a toddler. With a sly grin, he moved his hand to the window controls and rolled Dean's window down without warning. The angel pulled back abruptly, a look of alarm on his face. Unable to help it, Castiel started laughing.

"What did you do?" Dean demanded.

"I opened the window; you were smudging it all up. Besides, you looked like you could use the air." The hunter replied calmly, thumbing the radio on finally. Talk by Coldplay started filtering through the speakers. Stiffening, Dean slowly turned to stare at him unblinkingly.

"What?" He snapped after growing exceedingly uncomfortable under the green gaze directed at him.

"What the hell is this crap?"

"Coldplay, from the sounds of it."

"Change it, it sucks!"

"Sorry, house rules." A smile crept up on Castiel's face as he recalled the first time he'd had this same conversation with his brother.

"House rules? We're in a car you idiot."

"House rules mean- You know what, never mind, I'll explain later. But the general rule in the car is: Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole. Which means, unless I'm feeling generous, we listen to what I want to listen to. And I currently don't feel like changing the radio station."

"What if I don't like what you're listening to?" Dean all but whined, sticking his lower lip out and pouting. They really were going to have to have a talk about how a man the age of Dean's vessel was supposed to act, cause the whole 'terrible threes' act wasn't going to fly.

"If you don't like it, you can always walk." Castiel went with the age old response his brother always used on him when he complained about something in the car.

The sound of flapping wings filled the car and Castiel slammed the breaks on. When he looked over and saw that Dean was gone, he quickly pulled over and put the Prius in park before jumping out.

"Dean!" He yelled, looking around for the angel.

"What?" An annoyed voice asked as Dean walked up the sidewalk towards him.

"What are you doing?" He demanded, slamming a fist down on top of the car.

"You said if I didn't like the music I should walk. So guess what? I'm walking." Dean retorted, shoving his hands in his pockets and stopped next to the car.

"Oh my- Dean, I was kidding. I thought you understood humor and sarcasm."

"I do, but with you it's hard! You fucking growl _everything_, Cas! Try differentiating your vocal pitch or something sometime."

Scrubbing a hand over his face, Castiel sighed, "Just get back in the car, Dean. We're only a couple blocks from a diner, if I remember correctly."

The angel hesitated a moment then teleported himself into the vehicle. Climbing in and strapping himself back in, Castiel pulled away once more. They didn't say anything to each other and the radio was turned off.

Ten horribly tense and awkward minutes later, Castiel saw the diner and pulled into the parking lot. He prayed silently for the other man to use the door instead of zapping out, falling into his lifelong habit and forgetting that Dean was an angel for a moment. An aggravated sigh escaped Dean as he shoved his door open and exited the vehicle. Castiel facepalmed, kicking himself mentally and scrambled out of the car.

"I'm sorry Deaniel, I mean, Dean. I always pray when I'm stressed. Having an angel around is kinda a big thing for me. I didn't mean to insult you or whatever I did to make you angry. I'm sorry."

Sighing, Dean scrubbed his hand over his face like he'd seen Castiel do earlier when he was frustrated.

"It's fine. I'm just being a bit of a bitch I guess. I mean, who am I to expect someone as devout as you to stop praying just like that. But you need to realize, I'm not a complete idiot. I might get a little excited and forget about stuff, but I do realize I'm not supposed to do angel-y things around mortals who aren't hunters."

They both stood silently in the parking lot for a minute before either of them came up with anything to say. Castiel spoke up first.

"Perhaps we should sit down and discuss how we're going to make this… relationship, work."

"Wow, way to make it girly dude."

"It's a necessary evil."

"Alright, you have a point. Now, let's get down to this eating business." Dean rubbed his hands together as they walked into the diner. The waitress that turned to greet them gasped in alarm.

"Sir, are you alright?" She asked worriedly.

Castiel tilted his head, trying to figure out what she was concerned about, before looking down at himself. While Dean had healed his injuries, his clothes were still covered in blood and grime. Looking back at the woman, he forced a smile.

"Oh, yes. I, uh, was helping a friend make a, um, movie. Yeah. A horror movie, actually. I, uh, guess I forgot to change." He lied

"Oh, ok. Wow, it's really real looking."

"Yeah…"

"Sorry, you can go ahead and sit wherever you want, I'll be with you in a minute."

Leading them to the back, Castiel slid into a booth and indicated for Dean to sit across from him.

"Wow do you suck at lying. Holy crap!" Dean laughed at him as he sat down.

"I do not enjoy lying. It's a sin after all."Castiel defended, playing with the salt shaker idly.

"Once again, a human ideal. God's not going to smite you for any and every little lie. Man's busy with more important things."

"That may be, but lying is still not something I like to do. Even when I have to do if for a case."

Both men stopped talking and smiled politely as the waitress came up and handed them each a menu.

"Can I get you two anything to drink?" She asked sweetly, batting he eyes at Dean.

"I'll have a cup of coffee with a glass of milk please." Castiel told her.

"Uh, I'll have that too." Dean shot the girl a megawatt smile, earning a small giggle from her as she nodded and went off to get their drinks.

"Sorry Dean, I should have explained about drinks." The hunter apologized.

"Don't sweat it Cas, I at least know what milk is. What's that other stuff I'm getting?"

"Coffee. It's a caffeinated drink that's dark and bitter. You can always add sugar and creamer to make it sweeter if you want, it you don't like it black." Castiel explained before picking up his menu, "Now, you can read through the menu and see what you want to eat. My treat."

The angel picked up his menu and read through it with childlike wonder. It didn't take him long before he decided what he wanted and set the booklet down.

"Know what you want then?" Castiel asked as he skimmed over his menu.

"Yup."

"What you getting then?"

"You'll see." He smiled smugly before the waitress walked up and set their drinks on the table. Getting a pen and pad out, she asked if they were ready to order.

"I'll have a hamburger and fries, please." Castiel smiled and handed the menu to her.

"Alright, and you?" She asked Dean.

"I'll have a double bacon cheeseburger."

"You want fries or a side salad with that?"

"Uh, fries?"

The girl nodded, "Those will be right up." Taking his menu she walked away, making sure to put a little extra swing in her hips. Dean watched after her curiously before turning back to Castiel.

"What's up with that?" He asked.

"She likes you, thinks you're cute. I bet she'll be slipping you her phone number before we leave." The hunter explained, adding sugar packet after sugar packet to his coffee before pouring some creamer in it. Taking a sip, he smiled in appreciation of the caffeine entering his body.

"Why would I want her number?"

Because she wants to have sexy with you."

"But she doesn't even know me, why would she want to have sex with me?"

"You're vessel is exceptionally good looking as far as human standards are concerned and sometimes that's enough for some people."

"So what, does she think I'm a whore or something?"

"What? No, of course not." Castiel said, shaking his head.

"Oh, ok… Does that mean she's a whore?"

Castiel choked on his coffee at that. Dean leaned over the table and patted him on the back a few times. After being motioned away, the angel sat back in his seat. Clearing his throat and looking Dean in the eye, Castiel spoke.

"She isn't a whore! Don't say things like that in public, it's rude!"

"Then why does she want to have sex with me?" Dean asked again.

"I don't know. People are more… Accepting, of one night stands than they used to be. Sometimes they just want to have sex with no strings attached." Castiel couldn't believe he was having this conversation in a restaurant, let alone with an angel of the Lord! Before either of them could say another word, said waitress sauntered up with their meals. As she set the plates down, she left an extra napkin next to Dean's. They thanked her and as she walked away, Castiel grabbed the napkin and held it up. There was a name and number written on it in squiggly script.

"Told you."

"Eh, Whatever. Now, how am I supposed to eat this thing?" Dean looked down at his food with glee.

"Watch and learn." Castiel said, an amused grin on his face as he picked his burger up and took a bite out of it. Dean watched with rapt attention as he chewed and swallowed.

"That it? Doesn't seem so hard." The angel picked up his burger and looked at it for a moment before taking a bite. He made a content noise as he finished swallowing and continued eating the rest of it. They ate in relative silence which was broken every few minutes by Dean making small noises of delight.

Finishing up, Castiel decided to order them some dessert. Dean's eyes got huge and he gasped as a piece of pie was placed in front of him. He waited till the waitress was out of hearing range before turning to Castiel.

"Cas, what is this called?" He asked in astonishment.

"This, is apple pie. It's an American classic, if you don't like it there's something is wrong with you." Castiel watched as Dean flat out attacked his slice, while he took normal sized bites. Finishing, Dean sighed wistfully as he leaned back in his seat, "That was amazing!"

"I could tell." Castiel chuckled as he signed the bill that had been brought over and left a tip. Standing, he stretched out his back and shoulders before they exited the diner. The two men walked up to the car and climbed in.

"Alright, what time is it…"Castiel muttered as hit the ignition, "Oh goodness, it's already four? Lovely."

"Why does it matter what time it is?" Dean asked as he buckled his seatbelt.

"I don't know if angels need to sleep, but I do. Especially since I'm going to have to drive three hours to meet up with my brother by ten."

"No, I don't need to sleep." Dean confirmed, "If you want though, I could just teleport us and your car to wherever you're meeting your brother in the morning so you can get some more sleep."

"As tempting as that is, my brother is a little… Odd, when it comes to dealing with supernatural things. I wouldn't want to risk him reacting badly to you by just popping in out of nowhere." Castiel backed the Prius up and got back on the main road.

"Crazy with a side of anger issues, he sounds absolutely wonderful." Dean commented sarcastically.

"He's an excellent hunter, one of the best if you ask around. He just tends to be a little… unorthodox in his methods."

"Uh-huh, sure. Cough-crazy-cough. Ahem, sorry about that."

Castiel just shook his head and continued driving to the motel he was staying at. Five minutes later he pulled into the parking lot and up to the parking spot in front of his room. Locking the car after Dean decided to teleport out, much to his annoyance since someone could be watching, he walked up to the room and opened the door. Letting the angel in first, he shut the door behind them, bolting the locks and quickly laying down a salt line. He checked the lines by the window with a critical eye. Satisfied that they were intact, he sat down in a chair and took his boots off. Gathering his sleeping clothes he headed towards the bathroom. He paused as he reached for the door, then back tracked to where Dean was standing next to the bed.

"I'm, uh, just going to get cleaned up quick. You can sit down and watch TV or something if you want." He offered, not knowing what else to do with the angel.

"Ok, sounds good." Dean sat down on the edge of the bed and Castiel handed him the remote before going into the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later he exited the bathroom, feeling fresh and ready to crash for a couple hours of much needed sleep. Packing away his dirty clothes, he turned towards the bed. He didn't see Dean there and noticed that the TV wasn't even on.

"Dean?" He called out, looking around the small room, not seeing any sign of the angel. There was a soft rustle of feathers next to him as Dean suddenly appeared.

"What up Cas?" The angel asked.

"Where were you just now? And please stop calling me that."

"Oh, so sorry, Cas. I just had to do a little debriefing at the home office quick."

"I see. So I, uh, should probably go to sleep now. And since you said you don't sleep, I was wondering what you're going to do?" Castiel was sure the question had sounded a lot less awkward in his head before he actually said it out loud.

"I don't know. I'll probably go find someplace quiet and watch the stars or something. I've never seen them from the ground before."

"Ok then. Do you just want to meet me in here around seven then?"

"That works. I'll leave you to your beauty sleep then. Night, Cas." Dean teased as he disappeared.

Thinking how he wasn't sure if he'd ever get used to that, Castiel climbed into the bed and was out the second his head touched the pillow.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Ha HA! Finally finished this sucker. Now typically, when I write I sit down and keep writing till the chapter is done. Unfortunately I started working full time at the beginning of the month (as well as still training my horses), which means my block writing time is nonexistent now. But no need to fear, I have come up with a plan! I'm going to try and post for this at least every other week. Everyone is more than welcome to poke and prod at me to keep me on track either through PM or on Twitter.**

**So anyways, this chapter has been 2 weeks in the making and is a freaking beast. I had to heavily edit out a bunch of stuff from the 22 back-to-back pages that were written out in my notebook and this still turned out long. It's officially the longest chapter I've ever written, with 4k+ words. And I'm pleased to say that we're finally heading towards actually finding out what the plot of this story is, so get ready for that. I'll leave you alone now to enjoy.**

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><p>The sweet aroma of fresh coffee drifted into Castiel's nose. He rolled over in his bed and cracked his eyes open. Bright sunlight filled the room, the rays coming through the open shades to fall on the bed. Enjoying the warmth, he made a happy noise and began drifting off again. A snort of amusement in the room had the hunter shooting up into a sitting position as he drew a gun from under his pillow and aimed it in the direction of the noise.<p>

"Is that how you say 'hello' to the guy who brought you coffee?" Dean asked smugly from where he sat at the table. And true enough, there was an extra large cup of steaming coffee sitting in the middle of the table. Smirking, Dean took a sip from the cup in his hands.

Glancing around the room one more time, Castiel lowered his weapon and scrubbed the remaining sleep from his eyes. Stretching briefly, he tossed the covers back and put his bare feet on the floor. Running a hand through his unruly hair, he yawned as he got up and shuffled over the table.

"I already added a ton of sugar and that creamer stuff in it." The angel informed him as Castiel sat down and pulled the sanity sustaining liquid towards himself. He grunted in a way that could have been interpreted as a 'thank you' or affirmation. Taking a sip, he sighed in contentment and sank down into a chair.

"Well are you just a ray of sunshine in the morning."

Ignoring the comment, Castiel continued to sip at his coffee till it was half gone. Finally starting to fell partially human, he looked around the room again. His brow wrinkled in confusion when he noted that the sunlight was much too bright for how early it was.

"Time is it?" He mumbled in question as he hauled himself to his feet and went to go pick up his phone and check.

"Oh, about 8:50AM at this point." Dean told him with a smile. Castiel froze.

"Crap." He muttered under his breath before dashing over to his duffle. Grabbing some clean clothes he bolted into the bathroom and closed the door to change quick.

"I told you seven, why didn't you wake me up?" Castiel growled at Dean when he emerged with his toiletry bag under his arm. Walking over to his bad again, he began shoving things in it at random.

"Well you looked really tired and all last night, so I figured I'd let you sleep a little longer."

"That's very kind of you and all, but did you forget that I'm supposed to meet with my brother in less than an hour now and it's a three hour drive just to get there? He's going to kill me!" Irritation was evident in the hunter's voice as he carefully took his hunting notes down from the wall.

"Chill out Cas, I got you covered." Dean drawled, holding up a hand when Castiel opened his mouth to protest, "Yeah, I know you said no popping in right in front of your brother, I'm not that stupid. But I got to thinking last night-"

"Did it hurt?" Castiel automatically snipped, forgetting he was talking to an angel. He winced slightly and quietly uttered an apology before resuming his packing. Dean just gave him a curious look before continuing.

"Actually, it kinda did a little; it's not my forte. Anyways, so here's the plan I came up with: Instead of zapping in right in front of your crazy brother, I can just teleport us to the city limits or something. That way you can still drive up to wherever exactly it is we're going and he won't suspect a thing. And this way you got a couple more hours of rest that you so desperately needed. It's a win-win-win scenario for everyone."

Castiel hefted his duffels over his shoulder and turned to Dean with his arms crossed over his chest.

"You let me sleep in so there wouldn't be any other choice, right?"

"Oh-ho, aren't you a clever one. Damn straight that's why I did it. Now, if we start off in the city limits, how long is it going to take you in your lunch box to get where you're going?"

"Probably only fifteen minutes or so." Castiel answered grudgingly.

"Great! Then we can totally stop and get some more coffee first." The angel clapped his hands together excitedly and disappeared before his charge could say anything.

Grabbing his cup of coffee off the table, Castiel quickly finished it off and tossed it in the garbage. Double checking to make sure he had everything, he left the room and headed to the motel office to finish checking out. When that was settled, he went to the Prius and tossed his bags in the back. Dean was sitting in the passenger seat waiting for him, a huge grin plastered on his face.

As irritated as he was with him, the temptation of more coffee was too hard to resist for the hunter. Especially since he was going to be dealing with both the angel _and_ his big brother all day.

**InsertCleverAndWittyBreakHere**

"Soooo…"

"So what?"

"So this is Memphis." Dean's tone was unimpressed. The angel had an arm hanging out of his open window, hand playing with the slipstream. His eyes darted from building to building, his expression somewhere between fascinated and bored.

"We're more in the slums than the actual city." Castiel said absently as he made a left turn. They continued driving for several minutes in a companionable silence after that.

"Sooooo…"

"What now?"

"This brother of your, which one is it? Cause if it's that Uriel dude, I might have to punch him in the face for seemingly no reason at all, just so you know."

Castiel glanced at him for a moment before watching the road again, "No, it's not Uriel. We haven't stayed in touch with each other apart from yearly birthday cards. How do you know of Uriel even? I haven't really talked about anyone in my family. And why would you punch him in his face?"

"Uh, hello, angel here, remember? More specifically, the angel that's been sent to watch over you. So it should be a given that I know about your family as well as yourself. And as for the punching of Uriel in the face, well, I can't tell you detail but I'll just say it's a good thing that you have almost nothing to do with him now."

Frowning, Castiel mulled what he'd just been told about his brother over in his head. Why would Dean say something like that about one of his brothers? But the fact that this was an angel telling him these things unsettled him. Angels couldn't lie, so it had to be true. Then again, Dean himself had said that most of what humans knew of angels was false, so he very well could be lying. But why would he, what reason did he have to lie?

What could his brother have possibly gotten himself into that would make an _angel_ want to lash out at him? What could he have been doing since he stopped hunting with the family to go off on his own? Surely whatever it was, it couldn't be bad enough that angels didn't like it. Dean was probably over reacting, he was exceptionally high spirited and hot headed after all…

"Red light, RED LIGHT!" Dean's voice cut through his thoughts and he quickly slammed his foot on the break. The car skidded to a halt a foot away from the edge of the intersection. They sat staring as a semi went flying by a second later, where they could have been if Castiel hadn't stopped when he did.

"Holy shit dude, are you trying to get us killed? Or was that just to show off how good this toy's breaks are?" Dean asked heatedly as he lowered his arms from where they'd been braced against the vehicle's frame.

"You were just telling me last night that you'd be fine if we got in an accident and now you're worried I'm going to get you killed? Make up your mind!" Castiel snapped back. He always tended to be short with others after a near death experience, acting on adrenaline rather than thought. He took a deep breath to calm himself down, "Sorry, guess I wasn't paying attention."

"You think? And you obviously haven't had enough caffeine yet today."

"That I have not." The light turned green and Castiel eased the car forward. The sound of snapping fingers and the invigorating aroma of fresh coffee had him turning to look at his companion. Dean extended a cup of what could only be a Starbuck frappuccino towards him, which Castiel happily snatched up.

"Thanks." He said quickly before bringing the straw to his lips and taking a long drag from the drink.

"You and your sugary, girly drinks." Dean joked, as he took a sip from what looked like a plain iced coffee. His charge shrugged in response, to busy ingesting his drink to be bothered with a verbal reply. Dean smiled, "Having an angel around has its perks, aye Cas?"

"Yes, I suppose so. Though it is somewhat disconcerting that I've only known you for less than twelve hours and I already find myself forgetting that you are an angel. Are all angels as… Relatable as you?"

Dean gave him a curious look and laughed, "I'm relatable to you?"

"Sure, apart from your lack of knowledge about some things, you act much like a typical American." Castiel explained, turning into an alleyway.

"Wow, that's quiet the compliment. Truth be told, most of my brothers and sisters got a stick up their asses. Real dicks, that lot. Though I have a younger brother that I'm closer too than the others, and he's not half bad." The angel revealed fondly.

The alley came to an end and opened up to a dirt lot. There was a sleek black muscle car waiting there. A man got out of it and leaned against it as the pulled up. Castiel put the Prius in park and turned towards Dean.

"That's my brother. Why don't you let me do the introductions. I mean, if that's ok with you. And please don't-"

"I'm not going to teleport out of the car. And knock yourself out with the intros. But, so you know, if he starts doing anything crazy, it's on." Dean smiled innocently at the hunter. Castiel rolled his eyes and exited the vehicle. The echo of slamming car doors let him know that Dean had indeed not teleported out.

Castiel's brother pushed off his car and walked up to meet them. The brothers embraced each other. Dean stood off to the side and noted how short the older one was.

"Cassie, my favorite baby brother, what's up?" The man's voice was high and full of cheer.

"I am good, Gabriel. How are you?" Castiel returned as the released each other.

"Oh you know, the usual. Who's this hansom fellow you got with you?" Gabriel's amber eyes landed on Dean and looked him up and down. Dean knew the man wasn't looking at him like the waitress from the night before had, but was measuring him; working out how much of a potential threat he was. As a warrior, Dean welcomed the hunter's scrutiny.

"This is Deaniel, he saved me from the demons I was hunting last night. He's going to be traveling with me." The dark haired hunter said in introduction.

"Thanks for that, Deaniel. I'm Gabriel by the way, Cas' big brother." He extended his hand towards the angel who stared at it for several long seconds before grasping it in both of his. Gabriel shot is brother a confused look. Castiel smiled and mouthed back to him, 'He's_ a little odd.'_ Barely suppressing a snort of laughter, Gabriel loosened his hand in hopes Dean would get the message. Which he did, seeing as he quickly dropped his hands.

"You can just call me Dean. And what's the thanks for?" He asked curiously, tilting his head to the side slightly.

"For saving my bull headed brother from demons, as in plural. Kinda like more than the one he was planning on sending back to hell last night like he told me. Without any back-up mind you." While the older hunter was talking to Dean, he was giving Castiel an 'I'll-kick-your-ass-all-the-way-to-the-moon-for-pulling-a-stunt-like-that' glare.

"The signs indicated that there was only one demon in the area." Castiel mumbled grouchily.

"Uh-huh, sure. Anyways, Deaniel huh? That's and unusual name. Kinda angelic sounding almost. But then again, who am I to talk? Hell, our whole family is named after angels. We got Michael, the oldest of course, Raphael, me, Uriel, Balthazar and Castiel here." Gabriel reached into his jacket and pulled out a silver flask and knife, "And since I'm an older brother, you'll have to excuse my need to make sure you are who you say you are if you're going to be hanging out with my little bro." He held out the flask and Knife to Dean, "Holy water with a hint of salt and a silver knife, if you didn't already figure."

Dean took the items and cocked an eyebrow at the short hunter, "I don't think I actually told you who I am. If you knew, this wouldn't be necessary."

"Dean." Castiel warned.

"And who exactly are you then, _Dean_? Or is that even your name?" Gabriel asked, hand disappearing behind his back where Castiel knew he had a pistol tucked into the waistband of his jeans.

A wicked grin spread across Dean's face as he tossed the flask and knife aside. He rolled his head on his neck in an exaggerated fashion, "You really want to know?"

"Hells yeah."

"Dean, don't." Castiel groaned, debating whether he should just run away from the situation or get his phone out to record his brother's reaction when he learned that Dean was an angel.

"Listen up then, I'm Deaniel and I am a fucking angel of the Lord."

Castiel expectantly waited for the flash of lightning and a glimpse of the silhouette of his wings, but nothing happened. He heard Gabriel gasp and turning, he saw him fall to his knees and clasp his hands together in prayer. Much like he himself had done the night before. Looking back at Dean, he still couldn't see the wings. He wondered if the angel was only showing them to his brother somehow. A flicker on the ground drew his attention behind Dean and he found himself gasping and lowering himself to his knees besides his brother. Jointed to the shoulders of the angel's shadow were two huge wings. They flexed and spread out across the dirt magnificently. An instant later they vanished, and the shadow once again resembled a normal human's.

Rolling his shoulders to readjust his wings, the angel looked down at the two kneeling hunters before him and sighed.

"You," He snapped, pointing at Castiel, "Know better, we already talked about this. But it seems like you could do with a refresher already. So, rules on what NOT to do around the angel: No kneeling, don't cross yourself, no eye averting bull shit, don't be all revenant and shit either, and _please_, for the love of Dad, don't pray anywhere near me if you can help it. Alright? We good on this? Good."

He walked over and helped Castiel get to his feet, who then went over and helped Gabriel up.

"You- I- You- Him- What… He's really an angel?" Gabriel asked hoarsely, eyes darting back and forth between his brother and Dean.

Castiel smiled crookedly, "He really is. Though you'd never believe it if it weren't for the wings."

"I see that as a compliment you know." Dean called over from where he was inspecting Gabriel's car, "This is beautiful, what's the make?"

Gabriel continued to stare dumb founded at the blond for a moment longer before he shook himself and smiled broadly, "That's my love, she's a '71 Dodge Charger."

"Absolutely gorgeous. Hey Cas, why don't you have an actual car like this, huh?" Dean's hands caressed the metal frame as he walked around it.

"Oh he does, he just doesn't use her anymore." Gabriel informed him as he popped the hood so the angel could inspect the engine.

"Why the hell not?" He demanded, turning to face the dark haired man.

"I do too use her, just not very often. It was getting to expensive to repair her every time she got totaled." Castiel defended, crossing his arms.

"Uh-huh, sure. What's her make then anyways?" The angel was running his fingers over the hoses and belts of the Charger's engine.

"She's a '67 Chevy Impala."

Dean looked up at him, clearly taken aback by that, "So let me get this straight: You have a perfectly good classic like that just sitting around and yet you choose to drive around in a lunch box instead?"

"Oh amen to that dude. I've been trying to figure that out since he got that little Matchbook of his." Gabriel clapped Dean on the back fondly, "I knew I liked you."

Rolling his eyes, Castiel stood back and watched as Gabriel answered all of Dean's questions concerning the car as well as personal things about Cas. He pulled out his phone and checked to see if he had any messages. Sure enough, there were several emails waiting. He skimmed through the first couple briefly before getting to one from Bobby Singer. Bobby was an old family friend and fellow hunter who ran a research hub out of his home in South Dakota when he wasn't out hunting himself. The email was short and straight forward:

**Get as many of your brothers together as you can and get to my place as fast as possible.  
>-Bobby<strong>

Castiel's forehead wrinkled in concern. Sure, Bobby wasn't one for pleasantries, but he usually included at least some details about what was going on in his messages. Frowning, Castiel lowered hi phone and approached the other men.

"Gabriel, I just got a message from Bobby. He wants us, all of us, at his place right as soon as possible. Why don't you call Michael and Raphael to find out where they are and I'll call Uriel and Balthazar."

"What for? And why everyone? That seems like a little much for a hunt." Gabriel asked as he took out his own phone.

"Not sure. He just said to get there as fast as we can."

"Well that doesn't sound like bad news at all…" The older hunter mumbled as he raised his phone to his ear.

The brothers spent over an hour on their phone with their brothers. Dean watched them go about their business with boredom. He resorted to looking for shapes in the clouds while he waited. That quickly lost its appeal however as his thoughts started drifting towards home. He'd only been on Earth for almost a day now, and while it was full of fun and interesting things, he still found himself missing Heaven's familiar comforts. And being around these two Novak brothers was doing nothing for the ache in his chest cause by being away from his closest brother…

"Weeeeell shit." Gabriel swore loudly, saving the angel from his thoughts and getting Castiel's attention, "Mikey is in freaking Africa right now, hunting a Nudu. Lucky bastard. And Raph is somewhere in the middle of the Amazon looking for Cousin Virgil, who he somehow lost apparently."

"How on Earth did you manage to get a hold of him there?" Castiel asked, surprised that their brothers were so far away.

"Satellite phones."

"Oh, of course."

"What's up with the other two?" Gabriel asked.

Castiel sighed loudly before answering, "Nothing from Uriel, all his numbers went straight to voicemail as usual. Balthazar, on the other hand, is on his way back from a gargoyle hunt in Europe. He's in the middle of a layover in Ireland right now and is going to start working on getting his flight changed to the next one headed towards Chicago. Then he said he'd catch a connection to the regional airport in Sioux Falls. If he's lucky, he'll be able to make it to Bobby's in the next 32 hours."

"Well then we'd better get going ourselves. No way in hell I'm going to let that twerp beat us there." The older hunter smiled wickedly, heading towards his car.

"Hold up!" Dean interjected, speaking up finally. Gabriel looked at him questioningly while Castiel's lips curled up at the corners in anticipation of what he was going to more than likely suggest.

"How long does it take to get to this Bobby dude's place by car?" He asked starting off.

"It's over twelve hundred miles from here, so it would be a… seventeen to twenty hour drive depending on traffic. Longer if there's construction anywhere." Castiel's blue eyes crinkled at the corners when Dean gave him a pleased look. Gabriel on the other hand…

"You are such a nerd for know that off the top of your head. No wonder you're still a virgin."

"Hey, it's handy to know that kind of thing." Dean said in Castiel's defense. Gratitude swelled in the hunter's chest at receiving such praise from an angel. There was also a hint of smugness there too, seeing as Gabriel had gotten told off at the same time. It must have shown on his face because his brother sneered at him.

"Anyways, you two." The angel slapped his hands together to get their attention, "I don't know about you guys, but I honestly can't be in a car that long. Hell, I can hardly stand to be in one for fifteen minutes."

"Wait, so you not wanting to drive all the way here this morning wasn't just because of one bad song last night?" Castiel asked, perplexed.

"No. I just don't like being in tight spaces for long periods of time, I get cramped and uncomfortable." Admitted Dean as he shoved his hands in his pockets. Realization hit Castiel: Dean's wings. Even if they weren't visible all the time, they must still exist on this plane to some degree. The angel must have to cram his wings into the car every time Castiel drove somewhere. He chided himself for not thinking about that earlier.

"A claustrophobic angel, huh? You sure do know how to pick 'em Cas." Gabriel snickered.

"Hey!" Came the joint protest.

"He didn't have a choice in the matter, I was sent to watch over him." Dean explained.

"While we're on that subject, who exactly sent you? What's going on that Cas suddenly needs a guardian angel?" Gabriel demanded, his voice holding an edge to it now.

"I was sent by my superiors in Heaven on orders passed down from God himself." Dean answered emotionlessly, which somehow managed to be more threatening than if he had let his anger show.

Castiel felt the little hairs on the back of his neck stand up as the tension built to either side of him. The need to defuse the situation burned through him, but the feeling was immediately pushed aside by his curiosity of finding out why Dean had been sent to help him. Watching the angel, he saw his tense body language slump a little as he sighed.

"I really don't want to have to go over this over and over again, so I tell you what: When we get to that Bobby guy's place and your brother gets there, I'll tell you all everything I can about what's going on."

"I'll be holding you to that." Gabriel promised, his tone still dangerous. The two didn't break eye contact for another thirty seconds.

Not knowing what else to do, Castiel prompted them, "Uh, so did you just want to teleport us to Bobby's then Dean?"

The angel turned and stared at him for a few seconds before blinking. And just like that, a smile was back on his face and his shoulders relaxed. Castiel made a mental note to try and not get on Dean's bad side, ever. For as carefree as he could act, he was still an ancient warrior with a temper.

"Yeah, that way nobody has to spend and ungodly amount of time driving. I think everyone can be happy about that."

"So you're, what, just gonna fly us all there?" Gabriel asked, trying to cover his nervousness; he wasn't a fan of flying.

"No, not exactly. Teleporting is damn near instantaneous. Very little hang time in the middle." Dean told him cheerily, all tension towards the older Novak gone.

Castiel and Gabriel exchanged looks before turning to the angel.

"Alright." They said in unison.

"Let's get this over with then." Gabriel grumbled, screwing his eyes shut and bracing his body.

Dean smiled with excitement and raised his right hand. Winking at Castiel quick, he snapped his fingers together and they all vanished into thin air.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Of course the brother Cas would meet up with would be Gabriel, I love that guy! And Cas has the Impala, who'd have thunk it? Teehee!<br>Also, if it wasn't overly obvious, not all hunters that are in the show are going to be angels in this story (e.g. Bobby) and not all angels are going to be hunters (e.g. a certain high-ranked angel who's a total douche). Just thought I'd throw that out there.**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Ah blah blah. Of course I only finished actually writing this chapter Saturday night (the night before my 2 week deadline) and of course I didn't finish typing it up till today (2 days after the deadline). But it was bound to happen since I did give myself a deadline. Really though, only being 2 days late is really good for me, seeing as I'm rubbish with keeping to a schedule.**

**Lots of brotherly schmoop with Cas and his bros this chapter as well lullaby singing Dean and mischievous Gabriel. Couldn't stop writing once it got going, again, lol. Anywho, here you go! **

* * *

><p>Thinking back, a warning about how hard the landing was would have been nice. When Castiel's feet reconnected with the ground, he ended up lurching forward onto his hands and knees. Vertigo hit him hard and he gagged, fighting not to throw-up. Finally, after several minutes, the feeling passed and he sat back on his heels as he spat on the ground a swiped a hand over his face.<p>

Looking over at Gabriel, he saw that his brother hadn't faired so well. He was curled up on his side, moaning pathetically. Dean was standing over him and looking down on the older Novak, trying not to laugh. Getting up, Castiel walked over to stand beside the angel.

"Are you alright, Gabriel?" He asked, tilting his head.

"Oh I'm just awesome." Gabriel groaned as he rolled onto his other side.

"Oh quit being such a pussy." Dean told him, nudging his shoulder with the toe of his boot. At that, Gabriel rolled further away and scrambled to his feet, glaring at him.

"What the hell dude?" He demanded.

"Hey, look at that, you're perfectly fine." Dean sneered at him, then turned to Castiel, "Is he usually such a drama queen?"

"He's always had a flair for theatrics." Castiel supplied, joining in on the rare opportunity to poke fun at his older brother.

"Hey! You're _my_ brother; you're supposed to be on my side! Don't agree with him!"

"Hm, while you do have a point, I recall someone saying 'That reason isn't reason enough'."

Gabriel stared in shock at Castiel, who stared back blankly.

"You told me that once while we were in school." He continued flatly.

"Wow. What are you, an elephant? 'Never forget, never forgive'?" Gabriel tried joking.

"I don't understand that reference."

"Oh course you don't. You never use the internet for anything other than research or ordering equipment." Bending over, Gabriel started brushing dirt from his clothes. Standing up, he glanced around. Confusion, then shock, and finally panic flashed across his face, "Dude! Where's my car?"

"That movie was horrible." Castiel stated.

"Not the movie you twit, I mean literally, where is my car?"

"Oh yeah! My bad." Dean exclaimed before snapping his fingers. The Charger and Prius appeared and Gabriel rushed over to his car and started caressing his car lovingly. He planted a big, wet kiss on the hood.

"That is just an unhealthy relationship." Castiel commented, earning a glare from his brother.

"I'm not the one who cried when their car got hit by a deer." The older man shot back.

"I killed an innocent animal that night, who said I was crying about the Impala?" Castiel demanded, his hands clenched into fists as he stomped one of his feet.

"You did! Sure, you were teary eyed over the deer, but when you turned around to look at the damage it did to the Impala, you started bawling!" Gabriel retorted, waving his hands around as he spoke.

Castiel's face turned red, from both anger and embarrassment. He was about to retort with the story of Gabriel and the motorcycle when he noticed a crunching noise coming from somewhere to his left. Turning, he saw Dean standing there with a large tub of popcorn. The angel paused half-way through shoving a handful of the white puffs into his mouth.

"Wha?" He asked with a full mouth. He finished chewing and swallowed before continuing, "You two are extremely entertaining, don't stop on my account."

Before either brother could respond, the sound of a shotgun being cocked came from behind them followed by a gruff voice asking, "The hell you dirt bags doin' on my property?"

Slowly, Castiel and Gabriel raised their hands and turned to face the newcomer. Dean continued to stuff his face and watch events unfold with amusement.

"Gave? Castiel? What the hell you boys doing here? I thought you were in Memphis." The man questioned, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Oh I love it when you come out and say hello with the shoty, Uncle Bobby." Gabriel chirped, lowering his hands, "We were in Memphis when we got your message. Long story short though, Cas has a pet angel now and damn is he handy."

"I ain't nobody's pet!" Protested Dean, glaring at the short man while Bobby looked at the "angel" with disbelief.

"Would you rather be his bitch?" Gabriel teased, his eyebrows waggling.

"I'll show you who the bitch is, funny boy." Dean growled, his popcorn suddenly gone as he started pushing his shirt sleeves up. Castiel hurriedly stepped in front of Dean to stop his from advancing on Gabriel. Taking his shoulders, he turned him to face Bobby instead.

"Bobby, this is Deaniel and he really is an angel of the Lord." Castiel introduced him to the gruff hunter.

"And I'm Paris Hilton." Grumbled Bobby, still not convinced.

Dean turned to face his charge, a smile on his face, "Should I break out the wings?"

Castiel thought for a moment then nodded, "I think you might have to."

"Meh, I'll do it later. It's going to start losing its flair if I have to keep doing it every time you introduce me to someone." Dean shrugged, making a burger appear out of thing air and taking a bite from it.

"Where the hell did you pull that out from boy?" Bobby asked in disbelief.

"Like Cas said," Dean pointed to himself with one hand, "Angel."

"And you said your name was Deaniel, right?" Bobby questioned further.

"Well, Cas said that, but yes. Call me Dean though." The angel said around a mouthful of burger.

Bobby's forehead wrinkled as though he was trying to remember something. Finally he spoke up, "Deaniel, as in the Angel of Protection?"

Dean paused as he was about to take a big bite of burger and looked up at him, cocking an eyebrow at the oldest hunter, "Yeah. Well _an_ angel of protection. There are a few of us, it's kinda like an order."

"Bobby, why do you know that? I didn't even know Dean was an angel of protection." Castiel asked, something about all this didn't feel right.

"Uriel contacted me a few weeks back about finding some stuff out about angels. Thought he was crazy for asking, but did some research anyways. Not that I did a whole lot until a couple other hunters started asking for stuff on angels too. Something big is coming, and I have a feeling these "angels" have something to do with it." Bobby informed them.

"Wait, Uriel contacted you? Did you talk to him?" Castiel's voice was eager as he spoke. Bobby smiled at him sadly.

"No, I didn't talk to him. He left me a message. Said he'd contact me again when he needed the info."

Castiel nodded slowly, his frame drooping slightly. Gabriel came up to him and wrapped a comforting arm around his shoulders.

"He'll get in touch when he finished this mysterious crusade of his." He reassured his little brother soothingly. Castiel leaned into his touch, appreciating the sentiment.

The moment was ruined however when Dean snorted loudly. The brothers and Bobby glared at him. Dean didn't seem fazed by the combined looks.

"What?" The angel asked incuriously.

"Care to explain that attitude?" Bobby growled. Even though the Novak brothers called him 'Uncle', the seasoned hunter had always considered them his surrogate sons.

"Don't worry, I will. But only once everyone is here. I'm not a fan of repeating myself. Besides, what I have to say is something that should only be told once." Dean foreshadowed a serious look in his eyes for once. But just like that it was gone, replaced with a mischievous gleam, "Anyways, I'm bored. Let's do something fun while we wait for that brother of yours to get here!"

He spun around and literally skipped away from the humans. They stood watching, trying not to laugh at the sight of a skipping angel.

"You're going to have to have a talk with him about how a man his age should act." Bobby stated flatly while Gabriel finally burst out laughing.

"Yeah, I've been meaning to do that." Responded Castiel, a small smile on his lips, "So you believe it then, that he's actually an angel?"

"Well, I'm not exactly convinced, especially with that kind of behavior of his, but you two idjits seem to believe it so that's good enough for me."

"Thanks Bobby."

"Don't thank me yet boy." Bobby told him, "You think someone should tell that angel my house is in the other direction?"

"Give it a minute." Gabriel managed to gasp as he slowly calmed down from his laughing fit.

"Anyways, back to business. Who'd you all get a hold of to come?" Bobby asked them.

"Just Balthazar. He's flying in from Ireland so he won't be here till tomorrow sometime." Castiel informed him.

"Hm. Guess that's better than just the two of you." Grumbled the old hunter, "Either of you two geniuses got any bright ideas on how to entertain an angel all night?"

**HOPEFULLYTHISBREAKSHOWSUP,UNLIKETHELASTONE**

Somehow they had ended up playing a bunch of board games that Bobby found lying around from when the Novak's father would leave them with him when they were kids. At first Dean had been confused and agitated with all the different rules for the games, but as soon as he got them down, he ended up enjoying himself. He was even able to give Castiel, the 'King of Words' as declared by Gabriel, a run for his money when it came to Scrabble.

After being beat at Battleship for the tenth time, Gabriel went off pouting, declaring he was going to bed. Bobby followed shortly after, uttering a mumbled farewell. While he himself was starting to feel a little tired, Castiel decided to stay up and keep Dean company for a bit longer.

After failing to explain how to play Mouse Trap, he pulled out a couple puzzles instead. Dean inspected one of the boxes with interest before dumping the pieces on the coffee table. Sitting side-by-side on the couch, the two of them worked diligently on them till the wee hours of the morning. Castiel ended up dropping off to sleep sometime after 2AM, his head resting on Dean's shoulder.

Not wanting to wake the hunter by leaving, Dean carefully maneuvered Cas so he was lying across the couch with his upper body resting against his chest. Thinking back to the times he's watched Cas as a child, the angel started running his fingers gently through his dark, unruly locks like his mother used to. Castiel relaxed further in his sleep as he turned and pressed his face into the crook of Dean's neck. Smiling gently, the angel began to hum a lullaby he'd heard a young mother singing to her child the night before.

"_Hush-a-by, don't you cry. Go to sleep my little baby. When you wake, you shall have, all the pretty little ponies._" He sang aloud softly, hoping none of his angelic brethren were look down on him. He wasn't quite sure how he'd be able to explain his actions without sounding overly girly, but it just felt right.

**TRANSITIONALBREAK!(CAUSEI'MLAZY)**

A loud clanging noise startled Castile out of the rare pleasant dream he was having. His arms and legs flailed briefly before he unceremoniously fell to the floor. Looking around dazed, he surmised that he had fallen asleep on the couch. The clanging noise resumed briefly and he was able to discern that it was pots and pans. Grumbling, he got up and directed his feet to drag him into the kitchen.

Entering the room, he saw Bobby busy preparing breakfast. They exchanged grunted greeting as Castiel made his way to the coffee pot, where the fresh brew awaited him. Fixing a cup to his liking and pouring one out for the other man, he stiffly slid into a chair at the small table against the wall.

"Getting too old to spend the night on the couch." He muttered before sipping at his drink.

"Don't talk about being too old around me boy." Bobby grunted as he joined him at the table, "Balthazar called before, said he'd be here around ten-ish."

"What time is it now?" Castiel asked, trying to push through his grogginess and actually wake up.

"'Bout 9:30. Why don't you go snag a shower quick before that jokester brother of yours gets there first and uses all the hot water. I'm in no mood to listen to anyone's bitching yet this morning."

Gulping the rest of his coffee, Castiel stood up and stretched. Grabbing his cup he set it on the counter for use after he got cleaned up. Heading upstairs, he stopped in his unused room to grab fresh clothes and his toiletries. Making his way to the bathroom, he stumbled on something in the hallway. Looking down, he saw a trail of discarded clothes leading to Gabriel's room, including the pants he'd just tripped on. Castiel shook his head before kicking the offending material towards the wall. Trust Gabriel to make a mess even when he's asleep on his feet. Entering the small bathroom and shutting the door behind him, he locked it in accordance to Rule #1 of dealing with Gabriel: It's only a matter of when and where Gabriel will pull a prank, not if, so _always_ take precautions.

After relieving himself, he turned the water on and jumped in the shower. He let the gloriously warm water sooth his aching back after he cleaned himself. Turning the water, he got out and dried himself off with a waiting towel and wrapped it around his hips. He wiped a hand across the fogged up glass of the mirror and looked at himself.

The dark bags that were usually under his eyes were hardly visible and the creases that line his face seemed smoother and shallower than normal. He wondered if two straight nights of decent sleep was to blame of if Dean had done something with his angel powers. Rubbing his fingers through three days worth of stubble on his chin, he reached into his toiletry bag for his razor and shaving cream.

There was a flutter of wings from behind him before Dean's voice greeted him cheerily.

"Hey Cas, what's up?"

Castiel jumped and spun around. Hurriedly, he reached down and grabbed the towel just before it slipped off his hips completely after his sudden movements.

"Whoa, dude! Put some pants on!" The angel exclaimed before disappearing.

"Dean!" Castiel shouted angrily even though he wasn't there anymore, "Bathrooms have doors for a reason, try knocking when it's closed!"

Leaning against the sink, Castiel took a moment to calm his racing heartbeat. He was definitely going to have to discuss personal space and the meaning of privacy to the angel.

Forgoing shaving once again (since it probably wasn't a good idea to keep Dean waiting long if he didn't want another disruption), he pulled on a pair of clean underwear and a pair of pants that looked fairly clean and didn't smell horribly of grave dirt and death. Throwing on his only remaining clean shirt, a white button up, he looked at himself in the mirror one more time before hanging up his towel and leaving the bathroom.

Opening the door he came face-to-face with a waiting Dean. The angel's eyes glanced down briefly before returning to his.

"Much better." He said pleasantly. Castiel just pushed past him without saying anything and headed towards the stairs with Dean following closely.

At the bottom of the stairs, Castiel heard a familiar voice talking with Bobby in the kitchen. Entering, he smiled broadly when he saw the figure of his brother.

"So you are alive. I was beginning to think something ate you." He joked lightly, getting the other man's attention. The older brother's white teeth flashed as he smiled broadly and held his arms out. Bobby slipped silently out of the kitchen, nodding stiffly at Dean as he passed him on his way out.

"Cassie, you should know better. I'm you big brother, nothing can take me down." Balthazar chided as he embraced Castiel and patted him roughly on the back before releasing him.

"Except little Molly Shepard's ghost, that drunk vampire, oh, that succubus in Atlanta-" Castiel listed off the things that had gotten the better of his older brother over the years.

"Ok, ok. Point taken. Now, who is your new friend here?" The hunter asked curiously as Dean came to stand next to his charge.

"Balthazar, this is Deaniel, though he prefers to be called Dean. He's an-"

"He's a fucking angel of the Lord." Gabriel announced groggily as he shuffled past everyone to the coffee.

"Oh? A _fucking_ angel of the Lord?" Amusement was clearly displayed on Balthazar's face, "Just curious, how does that work? I though angels were supposed to be genderless."

"No, most of your preconceptions about angels are wrong. We all have gender, but we can take either male or female vessels regardless of our own sex." Dean explained calmly to him.

"Huh, very interesting. Very nice to meet you then Dean."

Castiel stared at his brother in shock, "So you accept the fact that he really is an angel? Just like that?"

"Well of course. If you say he's an angel, I'm going to trust that he's the real thing. You're the most devoted to God in this family; you wouldn't dare lie about having an actual guardian angel." Balthazar said casually. Castiel bobbed his head in thanks and smiled slightly.

"Shut it the fuck up! Seriously?" Dean's elevated voice drew their attention towards where the angel had moved net to Gabriel, who was looking more alive than when he'd first wandered in.

"There is something wrong in that sentence, but I can't figure out what exactly. Anyways, grammar aside, yeah I'm serious! Right after I finish this cup of coffee."

"What are you two planning?" Castiel questioned suspiciously, not liking the sound of how excited they seemed.

Dean grinned at him widely, "Nooooooothing."

"Gabriel…" Castiel ground out, nailing his brother with a piercing glare that demanded answers. The smaller man just smiled back mischievously as he drank his drink. Throwing back the last mouthful, he set the cup in the sink and wiped the back of his hand across his mouth.

"Dean and I are just let you two catch up a little. In the meantime, I'm going to be teaching Dean how to drive the Impala."

"Gabriel no!" Castiel shouted, "If you want to teach him to drive use your own darn car. Or better yet, the Prius! Just don't use my baby!" He pleaded, knowing it was all but pointless to try and talk Gabriel out of this. Switching tactics, he turned to Dean a pointed at him, "You do NOT have my permission to dive the Impala. I will not be happy with you if you do."

His threats were of no use though and he knew it. The two men continued to smirk in a way that said "Na-na-you-can't-stop-us". Dean draped an arm over Gabriel's shoulder in preparation to leave.

"Dean, don't you dare! St-"

With an exaggerated wink from the angel he and Gabriel vanished, leaving Castiel and Balthazar alone in the kitchen.

"-Op…" he finished lamely. Growling with frustration, he walked over to the coffee pot and poured the remaining liquid into his cup from earlier.

"Well he seems lovely. Wonderful listening skills by the looks of it." Balthazar teased.

Huffing, Castiel turned back to face him, "You like him so much you can have him."

"Are you joking? A control freak like you with something you can't control? This is going to be more fun than watching Shark Week!"

"Thanks for the support, _brother_." Castiel sneered, putting his now empty cup in the sink next to Gabriel's before walking to the table and snagging a piece of untouched bacon from one of the plates sitting there.

"So what's going on that Bobby wanted us all here pronto?" Balthazar broached the subject as he sat down on the edge of the countertop.

Castiel shrugged as he swallowed the food in his mouth before speaking, "I don't know, neither does he. But whatever it is, it's big and something to do with the angels. He probably wanted us to help him do research to find out what exactly is going on and then stop it, if need be."

The older sibling eyed him oddly before responding, "What do you mean 'probably wanted'? Did that remarkable brain of your's figure it out almost instantaneously with one look at the information while everyone else toiled over it, like usual?"

"No. We haven't even started any research or even looked through what Bobby has already. But I don't think we're going to have to do any to find out what's going on, however."

"And why's that?"

"Dean said that he was sent here to watch over me and that Heaven had important work for me, that is was part of my Destiny. I'm starting to think that whatever is coming has something to do with that and that Uriel might be mixed up in this somehow. I'm worried about him. Dean said something about it being a good thing that none of us have been able to stay in touch with him." Castiel confided, looking up at Balthazar with a concerned look.

"Cassie, you do realize that none of us have had any verbal communication with him since he left us, right? He was so angry after dad died, who knows what kind of choices he's made since then."

"No." Castiel bit out, shaking his head to dislodge the idea of what Balthazar was implying, "Uriel always abided by God, the Bible and the Greater Good. He wouldn't just stop because father died. He wouldn't…" He said adamantly as he paced across the floor.

Balthazar watched him sympathetically. Sliding off the counter, he positioned himself in front of Castiel's path. He grabbed him by the shoulders, giving him a gentle shake when he tried to walk through him. Looking up, Castiel's watery blue eyes met his brother's.

"I'm not saying that Uriel has gone dark side on us just to say it, I'm trying to be realistic by considering all possibilities here." He reassured, "He's my brother too and I'm praying that he has no hand in what's coming, but you need to keep in mind that people change, little brother. And it's not always in ways we imagine or expect of them."

They stood solemnly in the middle of the kitchen looking at each other before the older sibling moved one of his hands from Castiel's shoulder to the top of his head and ruffled his hair. Knocking the hand away, Castiel scowled at his brother briefly.

"Lighten up Cas; we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. So for now, let's deal with the things that are at hand." Balthazar put his hands together and rubbed them energetically, "Tell me a little more about your angel. When and where did you meet him? Do you like him? Do you think he's _the one_?"

"Balthazar!" Castiel exclaimed when he realized what his brother was implying.

"Oh come off it, I'm joking. But seriously, where'd you find him?"

Castiel made a point to roll his eyes, but appreciated the subject change. Before he could regale his brother with how Dean had saved him, the rumble of a car engine coming to life outside had him groaning loudly in unwarranted disbelief instead.

Of course Gabriel and Dean hadn't listened to him, what else should he have expected. Dean was an angel after all, and could do pretty much anything he wanted with no one to stop him. And Gabriel, well, Gabriel was Gabriel; he always did whatever he wanted whenever he wanted unless their father of Michael had said otherwise.

"Nooooo." He whined softly, bringing his hands up and burying his face in them.

He listened as the engine revved a few times before roaring loudly as the car took off. The sound of kicked up gravel reached his ears through the purr of his beloved baby as she was driven away. He prayed silently for her safe return and some form of punishment for Gabriel for putting him through this. Letting his shoulders slump, he scrubbed vigorously at his face before dropping his hands. Glancing over at Balthazar, he saw his brother unsuccessfully attempt to school his face into a blank mask as the corners of his mouth kept twitching upwards.

"Don't even say it." He threatened half-heartedly when Balthazar opened his mouth.

"What? I was just going to say that you have a strange, unhealthy relationship with that car."

"Which is exactly what I figured you'd say. Ugh, I need whiskey." He groaned, running a hand through his still damn hair as he went to go raid Bobby's stash of the amber liquid.

"It's not even noon." Balthazar pointed out as he went about picking up the dirty dishes and put them in the sink.

"Hm, you're right. It's far too early for that." Castiel agreed as he turned and headed towards the cupboards instead. Opening one, he reached in a pulled a bottle and glass out, "Tequila it is then."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: And there we have it! Hope this whole thing is still holding up to everyone's expectations and such and you're enjoying it.<strong>

**On that note, I'm just going to let you all know that I probably won't be posting again for about 3-4 weeks from now. My big horse show of the year is coming up so between work and all the hours I'm going to be spending in the barn to get ready, there really won't be much time left over for me to write. There's always the small chance I **_**might**_** get something up, but I wouldn't hold your breath. We'll just have to see how crazy things get. Till then, lots of love for you all!**


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